11/23/2009

k guys, the holidays are officially here. Stores are battening the hatches and getting ready for the Christmas crazies, and let's not even talk about Black Friday coming up. But the great thing about the computer screen you're reading this on, is that you can shop from it. No getting trampled, no fighting over the last vibrator on the shelf, no clutching your shopping basket protectively to your chest! So I've compiled a Top Five list of really cool classics and some fabulous new stuff to consider for you to consider for your holiday shopping consideration!

1. FYN Toycases: Everybody needs a safe (and attractive) place to store their sensual goodies. FYN provides just this with huge selection of toy cases, bags and even luggage. The hardest part will be deciding which one you like most, and what color to get it in. So keep you're sexy stuff secure, organized, and if you decide to use the handy lock & key that the cases come with, keep them a secret too.

2. JimmyJane's New Form 2: It simulates the bunny part of a rabbit vibe, has dual motors in each "ear," has been designed for discrete sound levels, and it's waterproof. The list of pro's is seriously impressive.

3. LELO Ina: Lelo's awesome new rabbit style vibe, such quality workmanship and hot new colors, you can't go wrong. Plus, it's rechargable, so you won't miss out on the fun when you forget to buy batteries.

4. Njoy Pure Plugs: Treat yourself, whether you're a butt-love virgin, or an experienced master. Hygene and quality don't get much better than this, and what better time to open up to some new sensations. You won't regret it. Promise.

5. Liberator Sex Furniture: Expand your sexual realm with large and small pieces from Liberator, because when you aren't having super-hot sex on them, there are a thousand other uses. Who loves versatility? I do!

11/10/2009

Overall, Titillating Temptations is a decent porn flick. Along with the good video quality and interesting plots, there's a unique little feature of this DVD (and if audio effectively turns you on, or if you read a lot of romance novels, you probably won't have a hard time getting used to it), each scene starts with a little verbal vignette, which jump-starts the plot and kind of “sets the scene.” The voice is super-corny, and it's very sappy “romance novel” speak, but I don't think it draws from anything too much. The music is a little much in all of the scenes, but most of the time it coordinates fairly well, and can be pretty easily ignored if you aren't usually super-distracted from the visual aspect by the noise aspect. From here, I'll break down the scenes by plot and the actors/actresses in them.

Scene One:

This scene is set in a garage, the actress wants to be “serviced” and all that, I'm sure you can imagine how many ways you can allude to sex using car and machinery type phrases; and this scene uses most of them. Claudia Rossi is pretty decent; she seems to be enjoying herself without too many obnoxiously fake noises though she leers at her guy an awful lot throughout the scene. Tony De Sergio is particularly good, he has a very Tarzan meets Bad-Biker-Dude look and a great body. He does a fair amount of smacking her ass and choking her from behind too, which I thought was a really hot way to make the scene a little rough. Also, if anal porn is your thing, this scene has some really clear, great angle anal shots.

Scene Two:

This is actually one of my favorite scenes, it's got a lot of character and the retro music in the beginning really makes it, for lack of a better term, cute. She is at home, and he is the mail delivery guy, and it cycles through a series of days, where she watches him from inside the house, and finally makes her move. Naturally, he follows her inside and they proceed to undress. The piercings and tattoos are quite hot, and Reagen Maddox's corset and stockings and sexy sandals are fantastic (I'm wondering where I can get that corset). Derrick Pierce is fabulous as well, super hot and the manly displays of strength (ie: carrying her inside and moving her around) are nice too. Their chemistry is spot on and it really makes the scene, it's a pleasure to watch.

Scene Three:

The third scene really isn't my favorite of the scenes; however it isn't the worst of them either. Missy Stone isn't really all that attractive, and to me her makeup looks overdone. Also, it's hard for me to get past the fact that, despite the way she acts and looks, her character in the plot is supposed to have an actual, serious job, let alone the “computing numbers,” it just so unrealistic. Beyond that, TJ Cummings does an alright job, and plays the part of a boss babysitting a half wit employee pretty well. The rest of the scene is good and they move around the office, making use of most of the available surfaces, quite well and he's definitely hot as a domineeringly masculine figure (especially when he gets rough with her at the end of the scene). However, Missy Stone just didn't do anything for me, and it became easier to listen to her strange animalistic noises than to be turned on by her presence in the scene.

Scene Four:

This next scene is my least favorite. The idea of a naughty geisha scene is a really hot idea, and it's a shame that it's such a disappointing scene. And again, as in the third scene, it isn't really the male actor that disappoints me as much as the actress. Maybe it's the makeup or maybe it's just her face, but Katrina Isis looks a tad masculine to me, like she's a man. But she's got a nice body, a great little ass that reminds me that I should start working out again, and there are boobs, so I know she is a woman. However, I found her appearance to distract from what could otherwise have been a great scene. Jack Venice does well despite the actress, though he occasionally gets a tortured look on his face. It starts off with her painting his chest and nipples, and then she massages him through his loincloth looking article of clothing. She then proceeds to blowjob, which turns into fucking on the couch, (vaginally) and he finishes on her chest. Pretty uninspired, but at least the idea was a good one. Also, Katrina is wearing a garter belt in this scene, but it doesn't attach to anything because she isn't wearing stockings, so the claps just…dangle around, for the entire scene, which kind of bothered me a little too.

Scene Five:

The final scene is, in my opinion, the best. Sasha Grey is fantastic (as usual) and Sean Michaels compliments her well, also he has a huge, ramrod straight cock. I mean seriously, this thing has a length that has to set some kind of record. His single hoop earring kind of makes him look like a black Mr. Clean, but it's nothing major and he's consistently impressing and attractive throughout the scene. The plot starts of with his arriving to fix her TV, it turns out that she simply hadn't hit the power switch. She invites him to stick around for some compensation, since he drove all the way out to her lovely, if hollow-sounding-because-it's-actually-a-set home. It's obvious that she enjoys herself, as does he, and they pleasure one another before getting into the serious action. Also, for how impressive his cock is (it doesn't all fit in her pussy during vaginal sex) she does some unreal deep throating and actually gets all of him thrusting down her throat. There is some anal in this scene too, it's quite tastefully done, and pretty hot to watch (even for someone who is somewhat squicked out by anal porn) maybe because his dick is Just So Impressive.

10/10/2009

I've been taking my time getting to my review of the Nea. That's not to say it hasn't traveled up to the top of my toybox, oh no, this adorably tiny vibe has in the past month and a half become the most used toy in my collection. My go-to vibe. My #1. Numero Uno. It's small and totally hide-able, it's rechargable, has pleasent functions and sufficiently strong, steady vibrations. The only thing I would do differently with the Nea, is make it waterproof, and I'd be a one toy woman. Yeah, it's that great.

That said, different vibrators will be different levels of perfect, to different people. So before we get to the technical stuff, I'll describe what my body likes so you can consider the difference/similarity with what your body likes. My clit is powerhungry, but low/deep vibrations don't do it for me, neither to super high/buzzy vibrations. I think whether or not a vibe is going to please me, has something to do with the frequency of the vibrations. (An electric toothbrush was the beginnings of my appreciation for vibration, and it served me well for a long time.) The Nea has a happy medium of buzzy and deep, nothing crazy intense powertool strong, like the Hitachi, but nothing fluttery weak either.

The Nea's vibrations are very much like GiGi's vibrations (common motor) except it's under a plastic shell instead of a silicone coated one. The functions are pretty much the same too. Turn it on, you get steady vibrations, for a week this is all I thought the Nea had, which I was fine with, then I discovered that holding down the "increase power" button (the one above the O in lelo) on the highest intensity scrolls through the functions. The first is a steady pulse (<3 <3) the second is a faster steady pulse (<3 <3 <3) that is a great tease, the next one is a fast, fluttery pulse (<3) and the last is a wave (<3 <3 <3 <3) that is an awesome warm up, very exciting. At any time in the functions, the "decrease intensity" button returns to steady vibration. A quick press of both buttons turns it off, but to lock it (love the lock feature, super discretion protection) you'll need to hold those buttons down and count to six. To unlock, you just do the same thing.

Because it's made of plastic, you can use whatever lube you want. However, it isn't waterproof so I've often worried about fluids getting in the buttons when things get slippery. This happens often though, and I haven't had any problems yet. You should definately be careful when washing too, because nothing covers the recharging hole (where the plug is inserted), I usually wipe it down with a damp cloth, or toy wipe. You could wipe it down with alcohol or 10% bleach too, but plastic doesn't really sterilize the way silicone, glass or steel toys do.

Speaking of the rechargable aspect, I've found the recharging to be extremely efficient. A few hours charge (till the light stops blinking) typically lasts me a couple weeks of about ten minutes a night play time. I haven't really noticed any decrease in power until it dies either. A good thing cause you get the most of your power, but a bad thing because there isn't much warning that you're about to short out.

9/23/2009

This stuff is great, and that's surprising because I completely expected it to be creepy and gross. In all actuality, Bad Dragon's own product "Cum Lube" is pretty awesome stuff. The bottle describes it as "a white-tinted viscous lube, similar in appearance and handling to real cum, only much easier to obtain in quantity." And it is, really.

Cum Lube is a water based lube, so it's safe for use with silicone, which makes sense since Bad Dragon produces fantasy inspired silicone dildos. No funky smell or flavor that I could detect. The four ingredients are listed right on the bottle, but two of them are parabens (propylparaben, methylparaben) so if you are Paraben-sensitive that might be something to consider.

I did the classic dime sized amount, rubbed-between-fingers test, and it took a full minute before there was any drag between my fingers at all. In fact, my fingers were getting tired from sliding together so fast for so long. Of course, exposed to air, you're just not going to get as lasting an effect as internally where your own liquids and warmth will amplify the effects of lubricant, so a full minute was pretty impressive. The consistency is a little thin, and especially with body heat it gets a little runny, but it doesn't insta-absorb into the skin. As it does though, it doesn't leave a greasy or sticky film, and dries quite smooth. Nobody likes to feel like they need to book it to a shower after using a bit of lube.

Of Cum Lube's texture, I will say this, there can't possible be anything as stringy and stretchy as this on the market. I'll be including a video with this review to show you, but this stuff is seriously stringy. And the strings can get some serious length too. So a little goes a long way, Bad Dragon sent me an 8 fl oz bottle with my Xenogon, and while it has quickly become my go-to lube for the past month, I've barely made a dent in the bottle.

9/06/2009

Bad Dragon Toys creates custom, high quality adult toys. There's a lot of designs, and a lot of options for each design. Also, all Bad Dragon Toys are guaranteed for 25 years, and expected to last a lifetime, so that too is pretty impressive. Their customer service was very attentive, pleasant and helpful. Overall I was really impressed with my first Bad Dragon purchase. But lets get to the good stuff.

Material:

The first thing I want to say about Xenogon's material is that all of Bad Dragon's toys are made of "high quality, platinum-cure silicone," and a Material Data Safety Sheet is available via their website. The information is readily available and there's no shady business about it (like with a lot of "silicone" toys out there) so I was really impressed with this.

When purchasing a toy from Bad Dragon, you choose how soft or firm you would like the toy to be. I spent a lot of time trying to decide which density level to go with because come on when something is labeled "soft" how are you supposed to know how soft is soft? But a lot of forum searching steered me in the right direction, and the fellow customers there seem happy to help and answer any questions they can.

For this toy I ended up selecting the density level 5, which is medium. Upon it's arrival, I was really surprised how soft medium was and can't imagine how squishy soft would be! It is definitely the most plush silicone I've felt, there's lots of give, stretch and bend to it. Next time I think I would go for the most dense level, simply because such a soft toy does require a little maneuvering for penetration, but a nice plushy dragon dildo is something I am glad to have added to my collection.

Functionality:

Initially I was surprised at the petite size of the Xenogon, granted I did order the small because I wanted to be able to take the whole knot and I am no size queen, but the neck of the shaft is quite slender. That said, I was also surprised how successfully the ridges and especially bumps managed to effectively stimulate. There is an incredible variety of textures and sensations to be had from the Xenogon. (The nubbies near the tip, oh the nubbies near the tip.)

The concept of the knot, is a little strange. However, in use, gives enough variation in girth that you can take what you like and either work on taking the rest, or not. Either way thrusting with it is nice, and exercising with it is nice. The base is large and flat, but there's not so much of it that I can't get vibe-to-clit action, which I love to accompany the Xenogon with. (BDXenogon + LELONea = most amazingorgasmever)

Some snooping around the website's forum showed me that many use the toys for anal play, which the large bases seem 100% safe for. Now, because the material is so soft and pliant, I imagine that (once past the initial challenge of penetration- soft material is less stiff, you get the picture) it would feel quite nice anally. I don't currently experiment with butt love, so I can't personally vouch for it, but I do imagine that it would work really well for this purpose. Vaginally, it was kind of an interesting workout for my muscles to get past the knot and clench to hold the toy in though.

Maintenance:With the Xenogon came a large, silicone disk. Not only was it level 8 (firm) density, giving me some insight to what that would feel like, it can also be used as a lube test. I don't currently have any silicone lube, but if you were really in love with silicone lube, you could use this disk of silicone to test with your lube. Obviously if there's a reaction you aren't gonna want to use that lube with your (expensive new) toy.

There is a certain amount of lint/fuzz attraction to the material, a quick rinse will take care of that though. You can wash the Xenogon with toy wipes, or warm water and mild soap. You can even dishwasher (top shelf, no soap) or boil them if you so choose.

Packaging:

I do want to note that Bad Dragon packaging, because you can only currently purchase directly through them, is very minimalistic. Discreet brown box, toy wrapped in some purple tissue paper, a (generously sized) bottle of Bad Dragons own "Cum Lube," [which deserves a review of it's own, coming soon!] and a silicone sample. That's it, no plastic clam shells, no trashy pictures of half clothed girls, just the box and the goods (and a few packing peanuts). I'm good with that.

8/20/2009

Hey all, and welcome to *drum roll please* Explicit Sensations! Obviously, seriously under construction, but be sure to check back as I get all of my fabulous review ducks in order! I can't wait to get some product reviews up, and maybe even some HNT!